For the 15th time in its 109 editions, the Giro d’Italia will start on foreign soil in 2026, this time heading east to the Balkan nation of Bulgaria. A surprising choice at first glance, and this has not been a Grande Partenza without challenges, but Bulgaria is a nation with a history in the sport as long as the Giro itself.
With its Black Sea coastal plains to the east and high mountains to the west, Bulgaria will provide a varied opening three stages to kick off the Giro d’Italia, but the story of this start goes far beyond the route itself.
The 2026 Giro d’Italia will begin some 1,400km east of where it finishes in Rome, in the historic town of Nessebar, known as the ‘Pearl of the Black Sea’. The peloton will travel a short distance down the coast to Burgas on the opening day, where a sprinter can be expected to pull on the first maglia rosa before the race cuts inland towards the hills and finishes its Bulgarian appetiser in the capital of Sofia.
Team dissatisfaction threatened to derail Bulgarian start
There is an increasing trend in professional cycling of Grand Tours choosing to stage starts abroad more and more regularly, with organisers often pocketing significant sums from national governments for the privilege. Bulgaria is the Giro’s eighth foreign start since 2010.
Bulgaria is inexperienced when it comes to hosting major sporting events, and the Giro will be the first cycling race above UCI .2 level ever to be staged in the country. The 2018 Men’s World Championships in volleyball is the biggest sporting event held in the country over the last decade. There was some concern about whether the Bulgarians would be able to pull the Grande Partenza off, but all signs from Sofia are sounding positive.
“Last year, when the talks were in [an] advanced phase, I was not concerned, but I was also not so sure if Bulgaria could host this kind of event and such a big event like the Giro d’Italia,”…
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